Run From Your Fears
by DetectiveEmma
Summary: Severa hates signing up for clubs, but no one really understands why. Brady then decides to give a little pick-me-up to his old childhood friend. Part of my Modern AU series.


I wrote this story back in the summer of 2014. Let's think about that….

I have no excuses. I'm just lazy.

I put in a bunch of support log references in this story so props if you can spot them. Also, send a review to guess who you think is Severa's father might be. There are a few clues. ~winks~

* * *

 _ **Run From Your Fears**_

* * *

"So Severa, why did you join track? I heard you're pretty talented in other subjects."

Severa huffed. "Please, like I need those other clubs. Running's great, and I'm good at it, aren't I?" Severa started bolting off on to the track, while Lucina ran to catch up.

When she evened her pace with Severa, she started, "Well yes, you are good, but why not join orchestra? I hear you're a star on the piano." Much to Lucina's dismay, all she got was a frown from her friend.

Severa refused to join orchestra or student council or cheerleading for that matter. What most people didn't know was that she actually went to the first few club meetings for all of them, and in each of them, she's been told how happy they were that Cordelia, their "star prodigy", had a child just like her. It made Severa furious. Running was one of the few things Severa excelled at compared to her mother.

"I jus- I know it won't be enjoyable," Severa breathed out. Lucina knew she didn't want to be pressed further on the issue, so she decided to change the subject quickly before things got out of hand.

"So how's the love life?" Lucina earned herself a bigger death glare than before.

* * *

"Severa, Sweetie, how was school?"

"Mom?" Severa was stunned. "You're never home this early."

Cordelia giggled at her daughter's comment. "Did you forget? I'm taking a week off work because your father is away." Cordelia resumed to chopping up vegetables at the counter, missing her daughter's small smile.

With Cordelia's job as a member of the police force, she was rarely home before Severa went to bed. Severa was almost excited to seeing her mother for the next several afternoons.

"You never answered my question, dear. How was your day?" Cordelia stopped cutting and looked at her daughter. She could always tell when something was troubling Severa. However, she was never particularly open about her feelings.

Severa waved her hand back and forth, giving her typical answer, which consists of words like "fine" and "okay". She continued her plod to her room and decided to start on her school work.

* * *

"Severa!" Out her window was Brady, yelling and screaming her name like a maniac. Brady was the son of a well-known lawyer. Severa always found it ironic that a law firm was next to a cop's house.

Severa met Brady when they were young, and whenever his mother would bring him to work, they would play together in her backyard. They even created their own little tree house back there, which she proudly named the S&B Club. Nowadays, they didn't speak to each other as much as they'd like, but small, brief moments like this were still enough.

"Brady! What do you want? Can't you see I'm obviously working?" teased Severa.

"Ha, don't give me that," he yelled back, "I got your favorite dumplings." Severa smiled at how well he knew her weaknesses.

* * *

Recently, it was rare that the tree house was used. Severa almost forgotten how gaudy it looked. It was because Brady hardly had any free time. She knew that helping out at the law firm was time consuming, but she didn't think Maribelle worked him that hard to death. They were just having small talk when Severa eyed a folded sheet of paper in Brady's pocket.

"H-hey!" Brady yelped as Severa grabbed at his pocket. "What do you think you're doing?" He motioned back hoping Severa didn't get what she was aiming for. Too late, it was already in her hands.

"What do we have here?" mused Severa. She opened up the sheet of paper, "a music sheet?" She glanced at Brady, who was red with embarrassment. "Explain," Severa demanded.

Brady looked almost ashamed like having a music sheet was a big sin. "I'm..." he whispered.

"What was that?"

"I'm in..."

"One more time, please?"

"I'm in the orchestra club, goddamnit!" Brady yelled out. Severa looked him straight in the eye before she started laughing and rolling on the boarded floor.

Brady looked too red to function. "That was your big secret?" Severa laughed. "This is Brady's darkest hour, me finding out about this? Hahaha!" She started wiping tears from her eyes. "I already knew," she said calmly. "I just wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Plus, seeing you flustered is a treat."

Brady was at a loss for words. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Easy, your name was on one of the music room lockers, and I can occasionally hear that violin from my room, you know," Severa boasted.

Brady stopped in confusion. "You've been in the music room?" Severa suddenly realized her error. She cursed under her breath. She tired her best to fumble out some sort of lie but no avail.

Brady finally understood what she was hiding. "You know," Brady was back to his calmer self, "it's okay to be in orchestra. No one's going to laugh at you. I know you're great on the pian-"

"You hypocrite!" Severa lashed out, "what about you? You attempted to hide the fact that you're in it too!" She turned her head away from his gaze, "and don't you dare mention playing the piano to me."

Before school and before her inferiority complex kicked in, Severa loved playing music with her family. She grew mostly fond of the piano because of its grand size and soothing sounds.

When school began and when she started doing recitals, Severa was overburdened by teachers and parents who compared her to her mother. She never once got a compliment or a criticism without her mom being mentioned. She suddenly dropped piano and avoided any other activity her mother excelled at. Of course, she told no one this reasoning. It was almost a myth that Severa knew how to play the instrument. Brady was one of the few who still remembered clearly because back then, she would invite Brady and his violin to listen to her play once in a while. He always told her that he wishes he can have that much skill except on the violin. Brady's been trying hard to figure out why her flame has burnt out.

Brady sighed before he motioned closer to Severa. He put a hand on her shoulder and a smile on his face before stating, "okay then, I won't hide it." Severa wiped away her tears, confused. "I will tell all my friends about orchestra, and if anyone asks, I will not hide it." Severa finally looked up at Brady. "But," Brady quickly added, "only if you don't hide your musical talent anymore." Severa began to shake her head "no", but he stopped her. "Nope, your stubbornness will not work on me this time. I don't know what exactly happened, but just know, I will never compare you to someone else." Severa gave him a look of "how did you know" that he shook his head at.

"You are your own person, and you are _my_ inspiration for determination and hard work. So what so you say?" Brady smiled at Severa, "join me in orchestra?"

Severa was almost speechless, almost. She sighed, "you and your dramatic speeches," she paused, "but... fine." Brady grew the biggest smile on his face. "However," she interjected, "if anyone compares me to my mother's talent, you'll help me punch them in the face, right?"

"Hahaha, of course," he said as he rubbed her shoulders in affection.

* * *

From then on out, they have been going to orchestra together and going to each other's houses to practice as well. Severa is still on the track team though. She's not willing to give up the one thing she's superior than her mom at. Plus, there were only three incidents where she had to punch someone's face out. Severa was confident that she could call this a very successful year.

* * *

I'm dying; apparently, back when I wrote this, I left this message at the very bottom:

Finished at 5:40 am

Haha, well I have a Genome/Nah story that I also finished in 2014 so I might as well upload that in the next day or something, so keep your eyes open!


End file.
